WEST AMWELL TWP. -- The new principal at this evening's meet-and-greet at South Hunterdon High School will be easy to spot -- look for the guy who's 6-3 and 310 pounds. Yes, Jim Bevere did play football and was an All-American center for Division II West Chester University.

As a social studies teacher at Eastern Regional High School he coached the football team to a Group IV championship. He's also coached wrestling, golf and baseball.

Now his goal is academic, his focus on raising test scores and enrollment at the county's smallest high school. Parents can meet him from 7 to 8 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Mr. Bevere was born and raised in Nutley, the second of four children. His older and younger brothers are attorneys. He's not, he jokes, because he "wanted to do something admirable." Much of his life revolves around family. The job at South will enable him to move to Burlington County near his 4- and 6-year-old sons, which he calls the driving force behind his decision to leave the acting principal post at Sparta High School.

"Soccer, baseball, just having dinner with them is a two-and-a-half-hour haul" from his home in North Jersey. "I want to be an active part of their lives. I want to be there to do homework."
He also says that he wouldn't have left Sparta "for any job." He's excited by the changes at South Hunterdon academically and physically. He's already impressed by Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg. "Her vision is infectious; you want to be a part of it," he said. "There is so much potential here to be an elite school. It's not broken; it just needs to be fine-tuned."

During the search for a replacement for Principal Don Woodring, who resigned in August and was since hired as principal at Manville High School, Mrs. Gartenberg said the ideal candidate would be particularly strong in instructional techniques and technology.

Mr. Bevere said he's looking forward to mentoring teachers and working with them on new "best practice" techniques, two things that he says can lead to higher standardized test scores for students. He's also already talking about tablet computers instead of electronic boards in the classroom.

"I understand that we have to compete" with the many area private schools "for the top students," he said, envisioning a program for the county's smallest high school that "creates kids that not only compete in Hunterdon County, but globally." South has started reaching out to parents of elementary school students in an effort to reduce the transfer rate to private schools.
Mr. Bevere said that this will also help teams like football, which has compiled an 11-39 record over the past five years and is 0-2 this year. South usually fields about 30 players, and has had as few as 27. "When I coached at Eastern I had 27 offensive linemen," he said. "It's the school's responsibility to get the best kids to stay."

At Sparta High, Mr. Bevere said they called him "the history bully" because he was always trying to worm his way back in to the classroom to teach his favorite subject.
When he's not on the job Mr. Bevere can be found rooting for the Mets, following college football, reading an historical biography or chilling at the beach with his large family.